Up to a couple of years ago, the 33S(n, α)30Si cross-section data had been limited and scarce. The origin in the solar system of 36S had been the only motivation to study that cross-section. However, a few years ago, the 33S(n, α)30Si reaction was proposed as a possible target in neutron capture therapy (NCT) due to the excellent bio-properties of 33S and the significant resonance at 13.45 keV of the cross-section for which a high-energy α is emitted. Prior to the experiments carried out at n_TOF-CERN and at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) facilities, the data situation was: no data from the thermal point up to 10 keV; from 10 keV to 300 keV, there was only one (n, α) measurement able to resolve the resonances with a questionable value of the 13.45-keV resonance; and the thermal point did not have a consistent value. Here we summarize three experiments that have been performed covering the whole energy range of interest in NCT and astrophysics. These experiments have solved the most important issues. The data of the present work and the evaluated data are used to calculate the dose rate in the tissue.


Objective: PowerPoint® software is the most common method of presenting information among physicians. As such it offers an opportunity to evaluate the technical quality of medical resident presentations and assess for change in quality over residency training. To date there is no literature on objective evaluation of the technical quality of PowerPoint® presentations by residents. This study sought to create a metric to evaluate the technical quality of medical resident PowerPoint® presentations, and measure changes in that quality during training.
Materials and Methods: A grading scheme for evaluating the technical quality of PowerPoint® presentations was generated after a literature review. In the spring of 2016 military family medicine residency program directors and chief residents were invited to participate. Participant programs submitted PowerPoint® presentations for evaluation. Presentations were de-identified and graded.
Results: A total of fifteen residency programs were contacted and two presentations solicited, with a total possible response rate of thirty PowerPoint® presentations. Five programs responded, with a total of nine presentations out of a potential thirty, giving us a 30% response rate. Of these PowerPoint® presentations the mean score out of 100 was 86% with a range of 78-92%.
Conclusion: Our grading scheme provides an objective method to evaluate the technical quality of PowerPoint® presentations. Resident PowerPoint® presentations are above an expected average level of technical quality. Our preliminary data suggest that training programs do not improve technical PowerPoint® presentation skills, and may not be interested in evaluation the technical quality of their resident presentations.
Keywords: Presentation, resident, quality


ABSTRACT The autorotation and energy harvesting potential of bladeless turbine models are tested in a confined water stream with Reynolds numbers from 20 K to 40 K. Mini bladeless turbine models of various geometrical shapes are 3D-printed using plastic material with low printing density. Experiments were performed using a commercial closed-loop water tank capable of delivering fine incremental speed up to a maximum of 60 cm/s. The cross-cylinder models with low density appear to demonstrate autorotation at high Reynolds numbers. Other turbine models demonstrate either stagnation or oscillation for a wide range of Reynolds numbers. For the cross-cylinder models, the autorotation phenomenon appears to be promoted at lower average flow speed when an upstream asymmetrical obstacle is introduced in the stream. The rotation per minute and energy potential (voltage and current) of the autorotating model are increased with the Reynolds number.


The grave relief of Sempronius Marcellinus in Savaria does not show the scene of abreptio Helenae — as thinks Z. Kadar — but rather the painful moment of Eriphyle's fateful decision followed by Amphiaraus's leave (profectio). The closest conceptual analogy of the scene can be found on the Phaedra-sarcophagus with the difference that the fateful decision is made by the man there, not by the woman. Instead of the multi-figure scene of the sarcophagi here the three-figure composition, together with the figures in the background, can compress the entire story, enabling a complex semantic interpretation. This meaning is fateful separation and praise of the deceased person. Sempronius Marcellinus, who had ordered the tombstone, placed himself in the role of Amphiaraus while his wife in that of Eriphyle. But the representation of their relationship is obviously not the expression of betrayal but of pain felt over eternal separation.


In addition to thymus-derived or natural T regulatory (nTreg) cells, a second subset of induced T regulatory (iTreg) cells arises de novo from conventional CD4+ T cells in the periphery. The function of iTreg cells in tolerance was examined in a CD45RBhighCD4+ T cell transfer model of colitis. In situ-generated iTreg cells were similar to nTreg cells in their capacity to suppress T cell proliferation in vitro and their absence in vivo accelerated bowel disease. Treatment with nTreg cells resolved the colitis, but only when iTreg cells were also present. Although iTreg cells required Foxp3 for suppressive activity and phenotypic stability, their gene expression profile was distinct from the established nTreg "genetic signature," indicative of developmental and possibly mechanistic differences. These results identified a functional role for iTreg cells in vivo and demonstrated that both iTreg and nTreg cells can act in concert to maintain tolerance.


To the Editor. —In their article, published in the September 1988 issue of theArchives, Atta and Byrne 1 state that "hypermetropia is a frequent cause of choroidal folds." They further state that "choroidal folds may be produced by any of the following mechanisms: (1) scleral shortening as in primary hypermetropia; (2) choroidal thickening as in scleritis, trauma, or hypotony; and (3) enlargement of various retrobulbar orbital structures, such as the optic nerve, the extraocular muscles, or Tenon's space." In our study 2 published in May 1986, we reported one- to seven-year follow-up of 12 eyes in nine patients diagnosed to have posterior scleritis. A-scan and B-scan ocular echography demonstrated extensive choroidal and scleral thickening with associated edema of Tenon's space and of the optic nerve sheath, and all the involved eyes had choroidal folds present and had acquired hyperopia. Observations presented by Atta and Byrne are very similar to


This paper investigates the use of object-oriented techniques for the specification and design of distributed multimedia applications (DMAs). DMAs are a class of software applications with a range of strong-often conflicting-requirements of dynamicity, interactivity, real-time synchronized processing of several media types, network distribution, high-performance, fault-tolerance, load balancing and security. The development of complex DMAs can benefit from the adoption of object design methods and distributed object implementation technologies. The paper describes the use of two modeling approaches, based on the standard UML modeling language, and on the TRIO formal specification language, respectively. The problem of defining steps to move from the UML or TRIO specification to a CORBA IDL implementation is addressed. An experimental distributed video-on-demand system is used throughout the paper as a case study.


In this study, we examined five mathematics teacher educators' (MTEs') interpretation of the situative perspective, who self-identify as holding that perspective. Furthermore, we share how they designed and facilitated their secondary mathematics methods course pertaining to the activities they identified as most important for the course. We discuss the participants' two interpretations of the perspective rooted in the context of teaching and the act of teaching, which seemed to influence their approach to topics of equity but not the types of activities they identified as being most important. Overall, findings from this study indicate there is diversity with respect to how the five MTEs interpret the situative perspective, and that diversity seems to be contextual.


Considering that India and Central Asian countries have held historical economic linkages and their future path of joint economic progress needs to be studied in greater detail (see Annexure I for the background) Research and Information System for the Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), New Delhi launched a research programme on Economic Cooperation between Indian and Central Asia. As the first step towards meeting the objectives of the research programme RIS-CII Seminar on India and Central Asia Economic Relations was organized on October 17, 2003 in New Delhi. The Seminar was divided into two working sessions viz. (i) Geo-Strategic Perspectives and Framework for Trade and Investments which dealt with strategic and economic potential, business environment and trade linkages and (ii) Trade and Investment : Focus on the Energy Sector (Seminar Agenda is enclosed as Annexure II). The Seminar was well-attended by industry representatives, policy makers and academia. The list of participants is given in Annexure VI.


Two newly synthesized β blockers, DPJ 955 and DPJ 890 were studied for cardioprotective action against isoprenaline induced myocardial necrosis and anti lipid peroxidation potential against ferric chloride induced lipid peroxidation. Administration of isoprenaline (300 mg/kg, s.c.) for 3 days at an interval of 24 hours significantly increased LDH, CK, AST and ALT levels as compared to normal animals. Treatment with DPJ 955 (10 mg/kg) and DPJ 890 (3 mg/kg) for 4 days followed by administration of isoprenaline (300mg/kg, s.c.) for a period of 3 days significantly reduced the concentration of marker enzymes in serum. Histological examination of hearts revealed that DPJ 890 (3 mg/kg, i.p.) reduced the severity of infarction produced by isoprenaline. The mortality was found to be very high (50%) with isoprenaline alone treated group. Pretreatment with DPJ 955 (10 mg/kg), DPJ 890 (3 mg/kg) reduced the mortality rate as compared to isoprenaline treated group. The cardioprotective effect produced by DPJ 890 was superior to propranolol. DPJ 955, DPJ 890, propranolol and carvedilol produced concentration dependent reduction in lipid peroxidation induced by ferric chloride. The rank order potency of anti lipid peroxidation activity was found to be carvedilol > DPJ 955 > propranolol = DPJ 890. These results suggest that prevention of myocardial damage produced by isoprenaline in rats pretreated with DPJ 955, DPJ 890 and propranolol may be mainly due to the β blocking activity as these compounds lacked lipid peroxidation activity.


Scientists have been debating the meaning of quantum mechanics for over a century. This book for graduate students and researchers gets to the root of the problem: the contextual nature of empirical truth, the laws of observation, and how these impact on our understanding of quantum physics. Bridging the gap between nonrelativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, this novel approach to quantum mechanics extends the standard formalism to cover the observer and their apparatus. The author demystifies some of the aspects of quantum mechanics that have traditionally been regarded as extraordinary, such as wave–particle duality and quantum superposition, by emphasizing the scientific principles. Including key experiments and worked examples throughout to encourage the reader to focus on empirically sound concepts, this book avoids metaphysical speculation and alerts the reader to the use of computer algebra to explore quantum experiments of virtually limitless complexity.


Spontaneous devaluation in preferences is ubiquitous, where yesterday's hit is today's affliction. Despite technological advances facilitating access to a wide range of media commodities, finding engaging content is a major enterprise with few principled solutions. Systems tracking spontaneous devaluation in user preferences can allow prediction of the onset of boredom in users potentially catering to their changed needs. In this work, we study the music listening histories of Last.fm users focusing on the changes in their preferences based on their choices for different artists at different points in time. A hazard function, commonly used in statistics for survival analysis, is used to capture the rate at which a user returns to an artist as a function of exposure to the artist. The analysis provides the first evidence of spontaneous devaluation in preferences of music listeners. Better understanding of the temporal dynamics of this phenomenon can inform solutions to the similarity-diversity dilemma of recommender systems.


Handwritten signature is one of the oldest biometric attributes used for authentication of an individual or a document. The purpose of this study is to present an empirical contribution towards the understanding of signature verification using a novel method involving off-line Hindi (Devnagari) signatures. Although research in the field of signature verification involving Western signatures has been well studied, there has been relatively little attention devoted to non-Western signatures such as Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Persian etc. In this study, the performance of an off-line signature verification system involving Hindi signatures, whose style is distinct from Western scripts, was investigated. The gradient feature, Zernike moment features and SVMs were considered for verification. To the best of the authors' knowledge, Hindi signatures investigated as part of a large dataset have never been used for the task of signature verification, and this research work is only the second important report using Hindi signatures in this area. An encouraging accuracy of 90.69% was obtained using gradient feature. The Hindi signature database employed for experimentation consisted of 2400 (100 × 24) genuine signatures and 3000 (100 × 30) forgeries. The error rates of 11.50% FRR and 7.12% FAR were obtained through experimentation using gradient features.


Blood doping has been challenging the scientific community since the early 1970's, where it was demonstrated that blood transfusion significantly improves physical performance. Here, we present through 3 applications how statistical classification techniques can assist the implementation of effective tests to deter blood doping in elite sports. In particular, we developed a new indirect and universal test of blood doping, called Abnormal Blood Profile Score (ABPS), based on the statistical classification of indirect biomarkers of altered erythropoiesis. Up to 601 hematological profiles have been compiled in a reference database. Twenty-one of them were obtained from blood samples withdrawn from professional athletes convicted of blood doping by other direct tests. Discriminative training algorithms were used jointly with cross-validation techniques to map these labeled reference profiles to target outputs. The strict cross-validation procedure facilitates the adherence to medico-legal standards mandated by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA). The test has a sensitivity to recombinant erythropoietin (rhEPO) abuse up to 3 times better than current generative models, independently whether the athlete is currently taking rhEPO or has stopped the treatment. The test is also sensitive to any form of blood transfusion, autologous transfusion included. We finally conclude why a probabilistic approach should be encouraged for the evaluation of evidence in anti-doping area of investigation.


Solid waste management practice is a matter of concern for public health and environmental protection and has become a major challenge in most developing countries. Improper waste management can bear adverse consequences on public health, environment, and natural resources. Many governments have been implemented several strategy in dealing with solid waste in a sustainable way, and recycling is one of them. However, a recycling program can only be successful if the community support and actively participate in it, and as the largest stakeholder, households have important role especially in waste source segregation. Therefore, it can be argued that households' participation, especially in source segregation, is essential in the successfulness of recycling activity.
Depok have been implemented recycling programme to deal with solid waste problem since 2006. A source separation from the source is introduced in this recycling programme. Therefore, households participation is essential. However, recent survey held in 2011 and 2015 have showed low household participation and there are only 1% increase of household participation in waste segregation from 32% in 2011 into 33% in 2015 (Health Agency City of Depok, 2015).
In general, many researches have focusing to enhance in studying household participation in waste recycling programme with the objectives to enhance their participation. However, most of the researches that have been done were based on the psychological perspective. Recent studies have shown that situational factors need to be incorporated, as recycling also relies on practical issues rather than only on psychological motivations. Accordingly, this research incorporated both approaches that include psychological and situational factors to understand household participation in waste source segregation.
This research aimed to understand the influence of psychological and situational factors on household participation in waste source segregation within Depok Waste Recycling Programme. By doing so, we hope to find the conditions and kind of interventions which may enhance cooperation for the implementation of Depok recycling program.
Survey is chosen as the strategy of this research. Questionnaire, interview, and field observation is used as research instruments. A total of 176 respondents for the questionnaire was obtained. As analysis tools, either independent T-test or Chi-square test was used in order to differentiate household participation in waste segregation. This research also used binary logistic to analysis which psychological and situational factors influence household participation. Binary logistic analysis was used because the dependent variable was designed in dichotomous variable based on the household self-reporting response on waste segregation practice.
The research finds that household participation could be distinguished by psychological and situational factor. In term of psychological factor, household participation can be distinguished by their attitude towards waste segregation, subjective norms, and perceived easiness. In term of situational factor, both groups can be distinguished by their perception regarding facility quality, source of information regarding recycling programme, concrete knowledge about the type of recyclables material, and the importance of monetary incentives. Additionally, in term of demographic attributes, both groups can be distinguished by family income, and level of education between the two groups. Further finding, only external subjective norms and perceived capability, number of source information regarding recycling Determinants of Household Participation in Solid Waste Segregation: a case study in Depok, Indonesia iii
programme, knowledge of waste type, and the presence of children under ten years old, significantly influences household participation in waste source segregation.


Background: Observational studies have correlated green tea intake with reduced breast cancer risk. In preclinical studies, the main polyphenol of green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), inhibits growth factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), which influence tumor cell growth, migration, and invasion. We conducted an ancillary study using archived serum and urine from a completed phase IB randomized, placebo-controlled dose escalation trial of an oral green tea extract, Polyphenon E (Poly E), in women with hormone receptor (HR)-negative breast cancer. The objective was to understand the effects of Poly E on potential biomarkers of breast cancer risk. Methods: Forty women with stage I-III HR-negative breast cancer who completed adjuvant treatment were randomized using an adaptive trial design to Poly E 400 mg (n = 16), 600 mg (n = 11), 800 mg (n = 3) twice daily or matching placebo (n = 10) for 6 months. Blood and urine collection occurred at baseline, 2, 4, and 6 months. Biologic endpoints included oxidative damage (urine 8-oxoG and isoprostane, plasma carbonyls), inflammatory (serum C-reactive protein [CRP], urine prostaglandin E2 metabolite [PGE-M]), growth factor (serum VEGF, HGF), and lipid (total cholesterol, triglycerides) biomarkers, as well as total urinary tea polyphenols. Results: From July 2007 to Sept 2009, 40 women were enrolled from 4 sites. During the intervention, 5 women developed a dose-limiting toxicity which required stopping study drug, 4 were lost to follow-up, and complete biomarker data was available for 34 participants (26 Poly E, 8 placebo). Concentration of total urinary tea polyphenol metabolites increased from baseline by an average of 10-fold in the Poly E group (all dose levels combined) compared to placebo (p = 0.001). Within the Poly E group, the mean decrease from baseline in serum VEGF was statistically significant at months 2 (11.5%, p = 0.02) and 4 (13.9%, p = 0.04). However, these changes were not significant when compared to placebo. At 2 months, mean serum HGF levels decreased by 12.6% for Poly E compared to a 6.3% increase for placebo (p = 0.04). This trend persisted at 4 and 6 months, but was no longer statistically significant. With Poly E treatment, there was a non-significant trend toward a decrease from baseline in serum cholesterol at 2, 4, and 6 months. No significant differences were observed in the biomarkers of oxidative damage (urine 8-oxoG and isoprostane, plasma carbonyls) or inflammation (serum CRP, urine PGE-M) after treatment with Poly E compared to placebo. Discussion: We demonstrated a significant reduction in serum HGF and a favorable decline in serum VEGF and total cholesterol during a 6-month intervention of Poly E in women with breast cancer. Given the small sample size and lack of adjustment for multiple comparisons, these results need to be confirmed in a larger study. Nevertheless, these findings are consistent with published results from short-term intervention trials of Poly E. This suggests potential mechanisms of action of green tea in angiogenesis, growth factor signaling, and metabolic pathways. Citation Format: Katherine D. Crew, Kimberly A. Ho, Powel Brown, Heather Greenlee, Therese B. Bevers, Banu Arun, Clifford Hudis, Heather L. McArthur, Jenny Chang, Mothaffar Rimawi, Lana Vornik, Terri L. Cornelison, James Cardelli, Regina M. Santella, Antai Wang, Scott M. Lippman, Dawn L. Hershman. Biomarker effects of an oral green tea extract, Polyphenon E, in women with a history of hormone receptor-negative breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2012 Oct 16-19; Anaheim, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Prev Res 2012;5(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B65.


An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of feeding method (constant vs variable) and method of formulation (lysine vs protein) on the performance and profits of first cycle, phase 2 DeKalb Delta hens from 40 to 52 wk of age as influenced by egg and feed prices. Treatments 1 to 5 were formulated based on lysine to contain 0.65 to 0.81% TSAA and fed continuously regardless of feed consumption (constant feeding). Treatments 6 to 10 and 11 to 15 were formulated based on lysine to supply 570 to 650 mg TSAA and protein to supply 580 to 660 mg TSAA per hen per d, respectively, and fed based on feed intake. Dietary TSAA level had no overall significant effect on feed consumption, egg production, egg weight, mortality, or body weight. Hens fed diets using the constant method of feeding had significantly higher egg production, egg weight, egg specific gravity, and body weight than hens fed diets formulated based on lysine or protein using the variable method of feeding. When the treatments in the two variable feeding methods were compared, feed consumption was significantly higher for hens fed diets formulated based on protein whereas egg production, egg weight, egg specific gravity, and body weight were not different. It was concluded that method of formulation (lysine vs protein) and TSAA levels required for maximum profits can vary from at least 570 to 821 mg per hen per d depending upon energy and protein cost.


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OBJECTIVE
It is currently considered that the defect of mitotic spindle caused by centrosome abnormalities may be one of the reasons for the development of aneuploidy in tumors. This study attempted to elucidate the possible role of centrosome defects in the development and progression of OSCC by investigating the frequency of centrosome amplification in oral precancerous lesions and OSCC.

METHODS
Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues of 12 cases of normal oral epithelium, 22 case of dysplasia with different degree epithelium dysplasia and 32 cases of OSCC with different differentiation were investigated for centrosome status by using indirect immunofluorescence double staining with antibodies to centrosome protein gamma-tubulin and cytokeratin. The differences and the change trend of centrosome status in these groups were statistically analyzed by SPSS10.0.

RESULTS
Normal oral epithelium showed normal centrosomes in epithelium cells, while 16 of 22 cases (72.73%) of dysplasia (DYS) and 27 of 32 cases (84.38%) of OSCC showed the evidence of centrosome amplification and morphological abnormalities characterized by huge size, clump or supernumerary centrosomes in a fraction of epithelium or tumor cells. The percentage of cells with abnormal centrosomes increased gradually from mild-dysplasia epithelium to poorly differentiated OSCC, which positively correlated with the histologicalcytologic grade of oral precancerous lesions and OSCC (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION
Centrosome amplification was an early event and that might play a role in the establishment and perhaps the progression of OSCC. There might be some direct relationship between centrosome defects and the cellular morphological phenotype characteristics of dysplasia and OSCC. Centrosome amplification could be served as an alternative diagnostic indicator of dysplasia and the intervention of centrosome cycle might serve as a particular way for the prevention and treatment of OSCC in the future.


Computer simulations have become increasingly popular in many different areas over the years, owing mainly to more effective and cheaper machines. In many cases, the trend seems to be that computer simulations are replacing experiments, at least in areas in which experiments are very difficult (expensive) or impossible. One such area is that of attempting to foresee what will happen in the future. Such analyses are very important for a durable construction such as a repository for spent nuclear fuel, for example. In the modelling effort, several computer codes are used and input data are often used without scrutiny. However, this work shows that even the rather simple task of calculating the solubility of a solid phase in a given water is encumbered with the effects of different uncertainties. These uncertainties may make the calculated solubility vary by several orders of magnitude. Thus the input to the more complex codes, simulating processes in connection with the repository, will also be affected. This report presents some computer programs for uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of solubility calculations. They are then illustrated by numerical simulations and estimation of uncertainty intervals for a case at the Äspö site in Sweden. Some of the input data treated as uncertain parameters are the stability constants for the reactions between the metal ion concerned and the elements present in the selected water or the rock. Stability constants and the enthalpies and entropies of reaction for the thoriumwater-acetylacetone-phosphate system have been determined experimentally. In addition to the values determined for these entities, uncertainty intervals are also estimated. A complexing mechanism for the thorium-phosphates at pH 8 is also suggested.


Inhibition of frost formation is important for increasing efficiency of refrigeration systems and heat exchangers, as well as for preventing the rapid icing over of water-repellant coatings that are designed to prevent accumulation of rime and glaze. From a thermodynamic point of view, this task can be achieved by either increasing hydrophobicity of the surface or decreasing the concentration of water vapor above it. The first approach has been studied in depth, but so far has not yielded a robust solution to the problem of frost formation. In this work, we systematically explore how frost growth can be inhibited by controlling water vapor concentration using bilayer coatings with a porous exterior covering a hygroscopic liquid-infused layer. We lay the theoretical foundation and provide experimental validation of the mass transport mechanism that governs the integral humidity sink effect based on this coating platform as well as reveal intriguing sizing effects about this system. We show that the concentration profile above periodically spaced pores is governed by the sink and source concentrations and two geometrical parameters: the nondimensional pore size and the ratio of the pore spacing to the boundary layer thickness. We demonstrate that when the ratio of the pore spacing to the boundary layer thickness vanishes, as for the nanoporous bilayer coatings, the entire surface concentration becomes uniform and equal to the concentration set by the hygroscopic liquid. In other words, the surface concentration becomes completely independent of the nanopore size. We identified the threshold geometrical parameters for this condition and show that it can lead to a 65 K decrease in the nucleation onset surface temperature below the dew point. With this fundamental insight, we use bilayer coatings to nanoengineer the integral humidity sink effect to provide extreme antifrosting performance with up to a 2 h delay in nucleation onset at 263 K. The nanoporous bilayer coatings can be designed to combine optimal antifrosting functionality with a superhydrophobic water repelling exterior to provide coatings that can robustly prevent frost, rime, and glaze accumulation. By minimizing the required amount of antifreeze, this anti-icing method can have minimal operational cost and environmental impact.


OBJECTIVE--Exercise induced hypotension is a specific but insensitive indicator of severe coronary artery disease. Skin blood flow is subject to control by baroreceptor mediated reflexes as well as thermoregulatory reflexes. Monitoring skin temperature or the skin to central temperature gradient may be a more sensitive indicator of impaired cardiac output response to exercise than hypotension. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS--Central and skin temperature changes associated with exercise were studied in 10 normal volunteers and eight patients with impaired resting ventricular function due to ischaemic heart disease. Patients exercised according to a modified Bruce protocol. The two sample independent t test was applied to compare the central and peripheral temperatures in the two groups at three minute intervals during exercise and at two minute intervals after exercise. RESULTS--A significant decrease was found in mean (1 SEM) central temperature on exercise in our patient group (98.2(0.2) degrees F to 97.2(0.3) degrees F), compared with the normal increase in central temperature (97.7(0.2) degrees F to 98.3(0.3) degrees F). Mean (1 SEM) skin temperature changes reflected the expected skin blood flow changes with exercise in normal subjects. In the patient group skin temperature declined during exercise (89.7(2.1) degrees F to 86.6(1.7) degrees F) and was significantly lower than normal from six minutes onwards. CONCLUSIONS--The abnormal peripheral temperature changes of patients with impaired resting ventricular function is an early and sensitive indicator of an abnormal haemodynamic response to exercise. It is possible that skin temperature measurement during exercise could help detect exercise induced ventricular dysfunction due to ischaemia or impaired cardiac output due to valvar heart disease.


Eighty patients with symptomatic autonomic failure were referred to one physician. A definite diagnosis was made from suggestive symptoms and severely abnormal cardiovascular reflex tests. Just over half had 'primary' autonomic failure (PAF), either associated with Parkinsonism (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA) or alone (PAF). The remainder had 'secondary' causes, which were empirically classified into five groups--associated with amyloidosis, peripheral neuropathies, carcinomas, as part of a complex clinical picture, and a number of miscellaneous causes. Diabetic patients were excluded from this series. The majority with PD or MSA were referred by neurologists, while most of those with PAF or secondary autonomic failure were referred by physicians. A high proportion of patients with MSA, amyloidosis and carcinomas are now dead. Autonomic failure may present in a variety of ways and to any medical speciality. Awareness of the possibility of an autonomic component in any complex clinical problem is a prerequisite to correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment.


Background and Aim: Undercounting is a common problem in surveillance systems and registries. One of the procedures has been used for assessing sensitivity of a surveillance system or completeness of a registry is capture-recapture method.The objective of the present study was to estimate the number of deaths due to road traffic injuries applying capture-recapture method and using three data sources: police, legal medicine organization and hospital. Material and Methods: All of the deaths due to traffic injuries occurred within Kerman district in the year 2000 were derived from police, Shahid Bahonar hospital and Kerman legal medicine data sources. Matching cases between the lists was based on three characteristics: first name, family name and date of accident. Loglinear model was used for statistical analysis. Results: The total number of identified cases was 471; the best fitted loglinear model estimated the actual number of deaths as 596 (CI 95%: 543-686). Based on Iranian Statistical Center estimates, the population of Kerman district in the year 2000 has been 644673; so the cause-specific mortality rate of traffic injuries is estimated as 92 (CI 95%: 84-107) per 100,000 population. Therefore the proportion of deaths registered in police, legal medicine and Shahid Bahonar hospital are 16%, 58% and 48% respectively. The coverage of total deaths (471) is about 79%. Conclusion: The findings showed that none of the data sources had enough coverage of all deaths due to traffic injuries. Capture-recapture estimates can help for obtaining better estimates.


This paper uses nonlinear regression, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Genetic Programming (GP) approaches for predicting an important tangible issue i.e. scours dimensions downstream of inverted siphon structures. Dimensional analysis and nonlinear regression-based equations was proposed for estimation of maximum scour depth, location of the scour hole, location and height of the dune downstream of the structures. In addition, The GP-based formulation results are compared with experimental results and other accurate equations. The results analysis showed that the equations derived from Forward Stepwise nonlinear regression method have correlation coefficient of R2=0.962 , 0.971 and 0.991 respectively. This correlates the relative parameter of maximum scour depth (s/z) in comparison with the genetic programming (GP) model and artificial neural network (ANN) model. Furthermore, the slope of the fitted line extracted from computations and observations for dimensionless parameters generally presents a new achievement for sediment engineering and scientific community, indicating the superiority of artificial neural network (ANN) model


. Parliamentary questions are an essential tool of legislative oversight. However, the extent to which they are effective in controlling the executive remains underspecified both theoretically and methodologically. This article advances a systematic framework for evaluating the effectiveness of parliamentary questions drawing on principal–agent theory, the public administration literature on accountability and communication research. The framework is called the 'Q&A approach to legislative oversight' based on the premise that the study of parliamentary questions (Q) needs to be linked to their respective answers (A) and examined together (Q&A) at the micro-level as an exchange of claims between legislative and executive actors. Methodologically, the Q&A approach to legislative oversight offers a step-by-step guide for qualitative content analysis of Q&A that can be applied to different legislative oversight contexts at different levels of governance. It is argued that the effectiveness of Q&A depends on the strength of the questions asked and the responsiveness of answers provided, which are correspondingly operationalised. To illustrate the merits of the approach, the article includes a systematic case study on the relationship between the European Parliament and the European Central Bank in banking supervision (2013–2018), showing the connection between specific institutional settings and the effectiveness of parliamentary questions.


Gori-I nuclear power plant has been examining the effectiveness and efficiency of operation procedures from human factors viewpoint. They developed both writer's guides and process guides for emergency operating procedures. Reviewing the present emergency operating procedures revealed that there were some mistakes in the documents such as unclear expressions, unsuitable terms, omission of detailed items, frequent use of negative expressions, omission of reference, omission of important numerical expressions and illogical context. It was concluded that the writer's guide and process guides lack of some important aspects of human factors guideline to enhance readability and simplicity.


Since December 2019, a number of patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) have been identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. NCP has rapidly spread to other provinces and cities in China and other countries in the world. Due to the rapid increase in reported cases in China and around the world, on January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Committee announced that NCP is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). However, there are relatively few suggestions and measures for tumor patients, especially patients with head and neck tumors. This article summarizes the prevention and control of disease in our medical institution to provide a reference for front‐line head and neck surgeons.


Outbreaks associated with fresh-cut leafy greens continue to occur despite efforts to implement horticultural practices that minimize introduction of enteric pathogens to the crop. The experimental trials in this study were designed to examine the efficacy of an acetic acid (AA)- and chitosan-based spray treatment, applied 1 day prior to harvest, for reducing the prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (O157) and Salmonella in field-grown leafy greens contaminated at levels detectable only through enrichment culture. Responses to the treatment solution were variable and depended on the type of leafy green (leafy lettuce, spinach, or cabbage), cultivar, pathogen, and AA concentration (0.3 to 0.7%). No significant differences in E. coli O157 prevalence were found for untreated and treated cabbage heads and spinach plants (P > 0.05). In contrast, treatment significantly affected Salmonella on 'Bravo F1' green cabbage and '7-Green' spinach (P < 0.05), with odds ratios of 2.2 and 3.3 for finding the pathogen on untreated versus treated greens, respectively. Salmonella was also 7.1 times more likely to be found on an untreated lettuce plant than on a lettuce plant sprayed with a 0.7% AA treatment solution (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.1 to 12.2; P < 0.0001). In studies addressing the efficacy of chitosan (0.1 or 0.3%), this chemical failed to reduce the prevalence of either pathogen on lettuce (P > 0.05). Similarly, spraying with 0.3% AA did not affect the prevalence of Salmonella on lettuce plants (P > 0.05); however, treatment solutions with 0.4% AA reduced the likelihood of detecting Salmonella in treated versus untreated plants by 6.6 times (95% CI, 2.1 to 20.9; P = 0.0007). After the lettuce was harvested and hand washed, consumers failed to distinguish either visually or organoleptically between untreated lettuce and lettuce sprayed with an acetic acid solution (P > 0.05). These results indicate that acetic acid could be used to reduce the microbiological risk of preharvest leafy greens.


Vector quantization is a data compression method by which a set of data points is encoded by a reduced set of reference vectors: the codebook. A vector quantization strategy is discussed that jointly optimizes distortion errors and the codebook complexity, thereby determining the size of the codebook. A maximum entropy estimation of the cost function yields an optimal number of reference vectors, their positions, and their assignment probabilities. The dependence of the codebook density on the data density for different complexity functions is investigated in the limit of asymptotic quantization levels. How different complexity measures influence the efficiency of vector quantizers is studied for the task of image compression. The wavelet coefficients of gray-level images are quantized, and the reconstruction error is measured. The approach establishes a unifying framework for different quantization methods like K-means clustering and its fuzzy version, entropy constrained vector quantization or topological feature maps, and competitive neural networks. >


When the economy is in a liquidity trap and households have a precautionary motive to save against unemployment risk, adverse demand shocks cause severe deflationary spirals and output contractions. In this context, we study the implications of optimal monetary policy, which consists of keeping the nominal rate at zero longer than implied by current macroeconomic conditions. Under such policy and incomplete markets, expected improvements in labour market conditions mitigate the rise in unemployment risk and decline in demand. As a result, market incompleteness may alleviate contractions in output and inflation during a liquidity trap. However, reducing market incompleteness mitigates the fall in demand under realistic monetary policy rules.


This study examines the concept of engagement in samples of volunteers from different non-profit organisations. Study 1 analyzes the psychometric properties of the abbreviated version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) (Schaufeli, Bakker, & Salanova, 2006a). Two factorial structures are examined: one-dimensional and three-dimensional structures. Based on the Three-Stage Model of Volunteers' Duration of Service (Chacon, Vecina, & Davila, 2007), Study 2 investigates the relationship between engagement, volunteer satisfaction, and intention to remain in a sample of new volunteers and the relationship between engagement, organisational commitment, and intention to remain in a sample of veteran volunteers. Moderated mediation analysis is provided using duration of service as a moderator in order to set a splitting point between new and veteran volunteers. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis suggest that the three-factor model fits better to the data. Regarding the structural models, the first one shows that engagement is crucial to volunteer satisfaction during the first stage, while volunteer satisfaction is the key variable in explaining intention to continue. The second structural model shows that engagement reinforces the participant's commitment to the organisation, while organisational commitment predicts intention to continue. Both models demonstrate a notable decline when samples are changed.


The binding of plasma fibrinogen with both single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs and MWNTs) has been examined. Specifically, our absorbance study indicated that MWNTs were coated with multi-layers of fibrinogen to render a "hard protein corona," while SWNTs were adsorbed with thin layers of the protein to precipitate out of the aqueous phase. In addition, static quenching as a result of energy transfer from fluorescently labeled fibrinogen to their nanotube substrates was revealed by Stern-Volmer analysis. When exposed to HT-29 cells, the nanotubes and fibrinogen could readily dissociate, possibly stemming from their differential affinities for the amphiphilic membrane bilayer.


Methyl-terminated (110)-oriented silicon surfaces have been prepared from monohydride-terminated, H–Si(110) surfaces using a chlorination/alkylation procedure. Transmission infrared spectroscopy of the H–Si(110) surfaces showed absorption features indicating monohydride structures along the [−110] direction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to characterize the methyl-terminated, CH3–Si(110), surfaces. Surface coverage calculations revealed 0.83 of an equivalent monolayer coverage for methyl-terminated Si(110) surfaces. No oxidation of silicon was observed in the high-resolution Si 2p spectra and the samples were stable against oxidation over time, with only 0.2 of a monolayer of surface oxide observed a month after the sample preparation. Thus, the chlorination/alkylation procedure can be used for the functionalization of monohydride Si(110) surfaces with improved long term stability.


In the era of so-called developed and progressive societies, where we declare to achieve a lot of things for our sustenance and survival, the basic requirements to live a life like a human being is far from reality. Among others, the basic needs like roti, kapda, makan are not available to all human beings. This situation is not in any one or two countries rather it has been spreaded all over the world. Right to adequate housing is a recognized human rights at the international level in various instruments like UDHR, ICESCR, CEDAW, CRC, CERD etc. which are very crucial for India. In India a lot of rights are guaranteed under Constitution of India as well as in other laws but no where right to adequate housing is mentioned specifically, though India has signed and ratified many international instruments which talk about this right. In this respect, what the achievement is, that is only due to Judiciary but the role of Judiciary in this respect is always changing. Even for some time Indian Judiciary ruled that right to adequate housing is essential part of Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Part-III specifically Article 21 and 19(1)(e) but in some case the Judiciary has also disappointed to people who need housing right. In the light of abovementioned facts, the paper proposes to discuss the existing norms and parameters available at the national, regional and international level in respect of right to adequate housing. Further, it gives some sensible suggestions to strengthen this right.


This paper addresses the protein classification problem, andexplores how its accuracy can be improved by using information fromtime-course gene expression data. The methods are tested on datafrom the most deadly species of the parasite responsible for malariainfections, Plasmodium falciparum. Even though avaccination for Malaria infections has been under intense study formany years, more than half of Plasmodiumproteins still remain uncharacterized and therefore are exemptedfrom clinical trials. The task is further complicated by arapid life cycle of the parasite, thus making precisetargeting of the appropriate proteins for vaccination a technicalchallenge. We propose to integrate protein-protein interactions (PPIs),sequence similarity, metabolic pathway, andgene expression, to produce a suitable set of predicted proteinfunctions for P.falciparum. Further,we treat gene expression data withrespect to various changes that occur during the five phases of theintraerythrocytic developmental cycle (IDC) (as determinedby our segmentation algorithm) ofP.falciparum and show that this analysis yields asignificantly improved protein function prediction, e.g., whencompared to analysis based on Pearson correlation coefficients seenin the data. The algorithm is able to assign ``meaningful''functions to 628 out of 1439 previously unannotated proteins, whichare first-choice candidates for experimental vaccine research.


The urinary excretion of kallikrein, a renal enzyme that cleaves the potent vasodilator kinin, kallidin, from kininogen, was measured in normal volunteers by three different assays, one of which was a bioassay. When sodium intake was changed from ad libitum or 109 mEq/day to 9 mEq/day, daily kallikrein excretion increased progressively in every subject to a mean maximal value that was 271% of control by day 7; an increase in sodium intake to 259 mEq/day resulted in the return of kallikrein excretion to control values. Urinary excretion of amylase, a protein with a molecular weight similar to that of kallikrein, did not change when sodium intake was changed, but plasma renin activity and aldosterone excretion changed appropriately. In subjects on a constant-sodium (109 mEq/day), constant-potassium (100 mEq/day) diet, fludrocortisone, 0.5 mg/day for 10 days, increased kallikrein excretion to a mean maximal value that was 203% of control. In subjects on a diet containing 9 mEq sodium/day, elevated kallikrein excretion decreased during treatment with spironolactone, 400 mg/day. Rapid administration of water (1 or 2 liters in 30 minutes, orally) or rapid infusion of 2.4 liters of normal saline did not significantly alter urinary kallikrein excretion despite large changes in urine volume or sodium excretion. Thus, kallikrein excretion appears to be directly related to the effective level of circulating sodium-retaining steroid. The findings are consistent with a role for the kallikrein-kinin system in the renal response to sodium-retaining hormones.


Abstract Hyperlipidemic pancreatitis represents one of the most acute and dramatic consequences of the chylomicronemia syndrome which, if misdiagnosed, can lead to pancreatic destruction and death. A retrospective analysis of 16 cases admitted to Hamad General Hospital since 1990 investigated the relationship between hyperlipidemia and pancreatitis. All the patients had discrete, recurrent episodes of acute pancreatitis with typical pain, hyperamylasemia and hypertriglyceridemia. Acute pancreatitis usually occurred when the serum triglyceride levels were above 10 mmol/L. Chylomicronemia, with the serum being visibly creamy, was a constant feature of the lipoprotein pattern of the patients during these acute episodes. It seems that chylomicronemia is the most consistent feature of hyperlipidemic pancreatitis. Most patients respond well to a low fat diet but lipid lowering agents are generally required to prevent recurrence.


The development of adren- and cholinergic nervous plexuses in the brain base arteries was studied by histochemical methods of Falck and Kelle in animals and fetuses of 10-22 days, newborn rats, animals of 10, 20, 30, 40, 60 and 120 days of life and 1 and 2 years old rats. The cholinergic nerve fibres were first found in the basilar, vertebral and internal carotid arteries on the 15th and 16th days of ontogenesis. Specific fluorescence of adrenergic conductors on the same arteries is revealed somewhat later--from the 17th and 18th days of the intrauterine development. Further formation of the cholin- and adrenergic innervation of the arteries of the Willis' circle goes on synchronously. The number of nerve fibres increases with the growth of the artery diameter. The concentration of catecholamines and the activity of AChE in them gradually increases. The greatest density of nerve fibres per 1 mm2 is determined in 20-day-old rats. The number of cholinergic nerve fibres on the arteries of the brain base is equal to that of adrenergic fibres during the whole period of postnatal ontogenesis. By the 30th day the effector nervous apparatus has a definite structure. In old rats the activity of AChE and the content of catecholamines drop, the amount and concentration of nerve fibres decrease.


Sir .—In a recent article, Erenberg and Nowak 1 proposed a hypothesis for groove formation secondary to oral endotracheal intubation: "... continuous pressure of the endotracheal tube against the median palatine suture." An alternative explanation would be the absence (or presence) of tongue pressure against the palatal shelves, which allows the shelves to grow toward each other. This would explain grooving in the midline when the endotracheal tube is secured away from the midline, ie, at either corner of the mouth. In our unit, oral endotracheal tubes are secured at the mouth corners and, hence, the endotracheal tubes do not traverse the midline. Still, we invariably see midline grooving in patients treated with prolonged oral endotracheal intubation. In our experience, these grooves eventually resolve after extubation, although this may take some time. The tongue is known to play an important role in palate-shape development. 2,3 Absence from its proper position leads to


A new kind of β-MnO2 nanorod (NR)–poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) functional composite with a high dielectric constant can be prepared by addition of β-MnO2 NRs to PVDF. The microwave absorption properties of β-MnO2 NRs, which were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method on a large scale at low temperature, have been investigated for their applications in dielectric composites. It is found that the absorbers filled with β-MnO2 NRs possess excellent microwave absorption properties, and the minimum reflection loss (RL) can be adjusted to different frequencies in the range 4–14 GHz by controlling the thickness of the β-MnO2 NR–PVDF composite. The composite has a significantly high dielectric constant and good thermal stability, with quite a low percolation threshold. The dielectric constant can reach as high as 862 when the concentration of β-MnO2 nanorod filler reaches 7 vol% at 102 Hz.


Background : Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a known opportunistic pathogen frequently causing serious infections. It exhibits innate resistance to a wide range of antibiotics thus causing high rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Objective : This study was done to determine the distribution and the antibiotic susceptibility pattern in clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in NHA. Method : Laboratory data on 265 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from a total of 30,384 clinical specimens processed over a 3 year period (January 1st 2010 to December 31st 2012) were analyzed. Results : A total 30,384 samples were submitted for bacteriologic analysis, 265 (1%) yielded Pseudomonas aeruginosa of which 195 (74%) were from in-patient sand 70 (26%) fromout-patients.185 (70%) isolates were from adults while 80 (30%) were from children. 87% of the isolates were susceptible to imipenem, 77% to amikacin, while 34% were resistant to ciprofloxacin and 46% resistant to ceftazidime. Conclusion : The relatively high proportion of resistance to ciprofloxacin and ceftazidime, and the emerging resistance to amikacin and imipenem are worrisome and calls for rational antibiotic use and institution of effective resistance surveillance and infection control measures. Keywords : Pseudomonas aeruginosa , National Hospital Abuja, Susceptibility


The article reports on research carried out at an army camp in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa in 1996; it aimed to examine language use at the camp across all levels and in all contexts, in order to assess the degree to which South Africa's new multilingual language policy of 1994 has taken root, and in particular to ascertain the extent to which English was being used, and what troops and staff felt about its use. Questionnaires, interviews and observation techniques were used to provide a full description of linguistic practices, views and attitudes at all levels and in a wide range of activities in the camp. Results suggest that despite the national language policy, and despite a very low number of L1 English speakers in the camp, English is playing a very significant role across all levels as lingua franca for efficient communication, and this is matched with a pervasively positive view about its continued use.


Uptake of α-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) by a leucine-tyrosine auxotroph of a thermophilic microorganism starved for leucine was studied. AIB was taken up by the cells against a substantial concentration gradient (300:1) and was present there in a free and unchanged form. Various energy inhibitors and sulfhydryl reagents strongly inhibited the accumulation of AIB. AIB uptake obeyed saturation kinetics, and the Lineweaver-Burk plot is characterized by a biphasic curve. AIB most probably shares a common transport system(s) with alanine, serine, and glycine. A mutant defective in l-alanine uptake was isolated by using the suicide effect due to accumulation of the tritiated substrate. The mutant also exhibited impaired transport activity towards AIB, glycine, and l-serine, but not to phenylalanine or valine. The transport of AIB, glycine, l-alanine, and l-serine was induced by d-alanine (5 × 10−3 M) during growth in a succinate- and ammonia-containing medium. De novo protein synthesis was required for the induction of AIB transport; the induction was inhibited when growth occurred in glucose-containing media. The apparent differential rate of synthesis of the AIB transport system was decreased considerably in glucose-grown cells as compared to succinate-grown cells. A common genetic basis of either the regulatory or structural nature for the transport of AIB, alanine, glycine, and serine in a thermophilic microorganism is suggested.


No Hispanist was more instrumental in defining the field of Latin American Colonial Studies than William H. Prescott (1796-1859). His histories, most notably the History ofthe Conquest ofMexico (1843), were bestselling works which informed the U.S. public about Latin American antiquity during the "Manifest Des- tiny" period of mid-century. Despite Prescott's outspoken criticism of the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, the historian has often been situated in recent scholarship as a "cause" of U.S. imperialism. Such a view is counterproductive, inasmuch as it diverts critical attention away from the imperialist contours of Prescott's codification of a Colonial Latin American textual canon. Prescott thus invites present-day Hispanists to reflect upon the ideological agendas that continue to underlie the act of canon-formation, as well as upon the possible long-term political effects of what is produced today under the guise of "disinterested" scholarship.


This study aims to set forth the Roadmap model on Indonesian bureaucratic reform trough Quick Wins method by which the place was taken in West Java Province as the first model area. The respondents for this study are the regional work unit speaker at West Java Province of 56 people. The data is revealed by interview and focus group discussion. The result of this study indicates that Quick Wins method applied by regional government should meet five parameters: (1) Radically Redesign Public Services to Improve Quality of Service and Cost Efficiency, (2) Restructure The Government's Approach to Managing Public Finances: Budgeting, Investment and Revenue and Working-Capital Management, (3) Strengthen Functional Leadership and Capabilities Across Government to Support Delivery, (4) Optimize the Government's Structure, Scale and Operating Model, and (5) Develop the Vision, Accountability and Capabilities Needed to Drive a Large-Scale Transformation.


Ellerman bombs are transient brightenings of the wings of the Balmer lines that uniquely mark reconnection in the solar photosphere. They are also bright in strong Ca ii and ultraviolet lines and in ultraviolet continua, but they are not visible in the optical continuum and the Na i D and Mg i b lines. These discordant visibilities invalidate all published Ellerman bomb modeling. I argue that the assumption of Saha-Boltzmann lower-level populations is informative to estimate bomb-onset opacities for these diverse diagnostics, even and especially for Hα, and employ such estimates to gauge the visibilities of Ellerman bomb onsets in all of them. They constrain Ellerman bomb formation to temperatures 10 000–20 000 K and hydrogen densities around 1015 cm−3. Similar arguments likely hold for Hα visibility in other transient phenomena with hot and dense onsets.


The MUNBG first opened to public in July 1977. The original purpose was to restore a disturbed area, both the naturally occurring pond and surrounding 45 ha of land. While situated within the city of St. John's, the Garden is home to a wide diversity of plant communities found within the boreal forest biome. A system of trails allows access to these plant habitats. The Garden also houses a wide variety of ornamental plants, displayed in a variety of themed gardens. Foremost among the themed gardens is the Heritage Garden, featuring plants that were important enough and/or had such a strong personal connection such that the early settlers to Newfoundland brought these plants with them from the UK. In recent years with the heightened awareness of food quality and sustainability, the Vegetable Garden has become a highlight for visitors. During the Garden's inception, the horticultural industry in Newfoundland was still developing and it was not known what plants would thrive in our climate. Through the Garden's research, breeding program and plant trials, the Newfoundland landscape industry has expanded significantly in regard to its offerings of hardy ornamental plants. Other significant research projects by the Garden include such topics as nutraceuticals, new organic fertilizers, revegetation projects and native plant conservation. The Garden has always been pesticide free, emphasizing the importance of pollinators long before it became the modern-day norm for botanical gardens. Education is an important component of the Garden and ranges from pre-schoolers, elementary-age students to university and adult-education, on a variety of garden and environmental themes. The Garden demonstrated practices including composting and vegetable gardening utilizing raised beds from which larger public education pieces have evolved. This paper highlights the development of the garden and its importance to the visiting public, as well as the research directions of the Garden.


Since the beginning of time the concept of a family has changed dramatically, especially in the African American community. The family is the most important institution that makes up a society. There are two main types of families: (1) an extended family consisting of multiple generations- aunts, uncles, grandparents etc., and (2) a nuclear family that consist primarily of a mother and father figure. The concept of an extended family arose as economic troubles began to occur. Slowly over time, the concept of extended families began to vanish. The problem with this is that children are starting to lose the true value of family benevolence. The Social Learning Theory states that people learn behaviors based on the action of people around them. Using Social Learning Theory, this paper hypothesizes that if more African American communities start to utilize the extended family rather than the nuclear family, then they will have more of a sense of togetherness in their families. Using the extended family concept is beneficial in a plethora of ways. Economically, for instance, the extended family raises more money to provide for the family rather than other forms of families. Collecting qualitative data through the use of the document analysis technique and conducting interviews, my hypothesis found to be tenable that extended families are more beneficial and should be the ideal view of a family.


We consider the problem of optimizing the distribution operations of a hub using drones to deliver medical supplies to different geographic regions. Drones are an innovative method with many benefits including low-contact delivery thereby reducing the spread of pandemic and vaccine-preventable diseases. While we focus on medical supply delivery for this work, it is applicable to drone delivery for many other applications, including food, postal items, and e-commerce delivery. In this paper, our goal is to address drone delivery challenges by optimizing the distribution operations at a drone hub that dispatch drones to different geographic locations generating stochastic demands for medical supplies. By considering different geographic locations, we consider different classes of demand that require different flight ranges, which is directly related to the amount of charge held in a drone battery. We classify the stochastic demands based on their distance from the drone hub, use a Markov decision process to model the problem, and perform computational tests using realistic data representing a prominent drone delivery company. We solve the problem using a reinforcement learning method and show its high performance compared with the exact solution found using dynamic programming. Finally, we analyze the results and provide insights for managing the drone hub operations.


The 2000s have witnessed the arrival and growing popularity of randomized controlled experiments (RCTs) in Development Economics. Whilst this new way of conducting research on development has unfolded important insights, the ethical challenge it provokes has not yet been systematically examined. The present article aims at filling this gap by providing the first ad hoc discussion of the moral issues that accompany the use of RCTs in Development Economics. Claiming that this new research agenda needs its own, specific set of ethical guidelines, we expose the six ethical problems that these experiments potentially provoke and that should therefore be carefully assessed by ethics committees before an RCT is launched and by scholarly journals before its results are published.


Automated visual surveillance systems are attracting extensive interest due to public security. In this paper, we attempt to mine semantic context information including object-specific context information and scene-specific context information (learned from object-specific context information) to build an intelligent system with robust object detection, tracking, and classification and abnormal event detection. By means of object-specific context information, a cotrained classifier, which takes advantage of the multiview information of objects and reduces the number of labeling training samples, is learned to classify objects into pedestrians or vehicles with high object classification performance. For each kind of object, we learn its corresponding semantic scene-specific context information: motion pattern, width distribution, paths, and entry/exist points. Based on this information, it is efficient to improve object detection and tracking and abnormal event detection. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our semantic context features for multiple real-world traffic scenes.


CONTEXT
Contraceptive prevalence increased by nine percentage points from 1993 to 2000 in Bangladesh, but there was almost no decline in the total fertility rate.

METHODS
Data from the 1999-2000 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey and from the Matlab Demographic Surveillance System area collected between 1978 and 2001 were analyzed to explain the lack of change in fertility and to examine relationships among contraceptive prevalence, the abortion ratio, desired fertility and total fertility.

RESULTS
After a maternal and child health and family planning program was initiated in part of Matlab in 1977, the total fertility rate in the intervention area declined from 4.8 in 1979 to 2.9 in 2000, while fertility in the comparison area dropped from 6.3 to 3.5. Over this period, contraceptive prevalence rose from 30% to 70% and from 16% to 50% in the two areas, respectively; meanwhile, the abortion ratio fell from 4.3 to 3.6 in the intervention area, but rose from around two to 8.2 in the comparison area. Trends in desired fertility in each area were similar, declining from about 4.0 children per woman in 1979 to about 2.5 children in 2000. Among women at each level of parity, fertility generally decreased as the number of sons increased, and fertility was highest for women without sons.

CONCLUSIONS
Preference for male children and parental concern over infant and child mortality may partially explain the difference between desired family size and fertility. A reduction in breast-feeding and an increase in use of less-effective contraceptive methods might be responsible for the inconsistency in the relationship between contraceptive use and fertility.


The present study was carried out to assess the prevalence and distribution of the traumatic injuries to anterior teeth among 4500 school children in the age group of 3 to 16 years from South Kanara District of Karnataka. Information concerning sex, age, cause of trauma, number of injured teeth, type of the teeth, lip competence, terminal plane relationship and the molar relationship were recorded. A total of 238 cases (5.29%) had incisor and canine fractures, which was more prevalent among the boys (72.27%) than the girls (27.73%). The leading cause of injury was undefined falls and the maxillary central incisors were commonly affected in both the primary and the permanent dentition. Enamel fracture was the most common form of injury noted. Class 1 Type 2 and Class 2 division 1 molar relationship cases exhibited significantly very high number of fractured teeth. Only 1.68% of the cases with traumatized teeth had undergone treatment.


Early on Christmas morning 1974, tropical cyclone Tracy devastated the city of Darwin leaving only 6 per cent of the city's housing habitable and instigating the evacuation of 75 per cent of its population. The systematic failure of so much of Darwin's building stock led to a humanitarian disaster that proved the impetus for an upheaval of building regulatory and construction practices throughout Australia. Indeed, some of the most enduring legacies of Tracy have been the engineering and regulatory steps taken to ensure the extent of damage would not be repeated. This chapter explores these steps and highlights lessons that have led to a national building framework and practice at the fore of wind-resistant design internationally. Tropical cyclone Tracy was a small but intense cyclone, with a landfall radius to maximum winds of 7 km, a forward speed of 7 km/h and central pressure of 950 hPa (Bureau of Meteorology, 1977) (Figure 9.1). Tracy was an Australian Category 4 cyclone with estimated maximum-gust wind speeds on the order of 250 km/h (70 m/s) (Walker, 1975). The recorded gust of 217 km/h (60 m/s) at Darwin Airport before the anemometer failed was, to that time, the highest wind speed measured anywhere on mainland Australia. Tracy's small size minimised the spatial extent of damage, but its slow translational speed meant areas impacted suffered more damage than might otherwise have been the case. Of cyclones that form in Australian waters, one passes within 200 km of Darwin every one to two years. The expected recurrence interval of an event similar to or stronger than Tracy impacting Darwin is greater than 100 years based on historical records.


Association rule mining algorithms are a frequently used data mining tecnique. It is aimed to find the items that are frequently found from the data. Nowadays, large data processing and analysis platforms are not focused on data mining, so they do not offer large-scale libraries for association rule mining algorithms. In the scope of this research, a library has been developed for association rule mining algorithms on a large data processing platform. The Apache Spark platform has been preferred in terms of common usage for the research case study. Implementation methods of different algorithms have been implemented on this platform to benefit from the Map-Reduce programming model. In this context, Apriori, Eclat and Pascal algorithms are implemented for large data platform. The library created by the implementation method we suggest is comparatively analyzed in terms of performance metrics on big data processing platforms with single and multiple nodes. The methods implemented within the scope of the research are also compared with the performance of the FpGrowth algorithm implemented by the Spark platform. The results of our research show that when tested on large scale data, the Apriori algorithm gives much better performance values than the other algorithms when switching from single-node cluster environment to multi-node cluster environment.


Aim : The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth infections (STHs) infection and other intestinal parasites in patients with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in Tehran Province, Iran. Background : The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that many people in the world are chronically affected by STHs and intestinal parasites. Furthermore infection is closely correlated with poverty, poor environmental hygiene and impoverished health services. Patients and methods : In this cross-sectional study, random stool samples from 912 patients with GI symptoms were collected and examined using light microscopy and the formalin-ether concentration method for detection of protozoa and of STH eggs. Also modified acid-fast staining was used to identify Cryptosporidium parvum .  Agar plate cultures were used for the recovery of Strongyloides stercoralis larvae. Results : STH infections found in these patients were Ascaris lumbricoides 5(0.5%), hookworm 3(0.3%), Hymenolepis nana 14(1.5%), Enterobius vermicularis 3(0.3%). The prevalence of protozoan parasites were 46 (5.1%), for Entamoeba coli, 31 (3.4%) for Blastosystis hominis, 27 (3%) for Giardia lamblia, 25 (2.74%) for Endolimax nana, 20 (2.2%) for Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar complex, 12 (1.31%) for Iodomoeba butchelii 9, (1%) for Chilomastix mesenelli, and 7 (0.8%) Cryptosporidium parvum . Conclusion : A significant relationship was found between age group, location and educational achievement with STH infection but no statistical correlation was seen between demographic parameters and GI symptoms with intestinal protozoan parasites.  The result of this study showed that, even in Tehran Province with a relatively high level of social hygiene, it is possible to find a high level of STH and intestinal protozoan infections.


With the development of social media, social networks have expanded the opportunities for user to create and consume user-generated content (UGC) online. UGC is an important information source for both companies and consumers, and can influence e-WOM as well as consumer purchase decisions. Understanding consumer behaviour of creating and consuming UGC is important for both researchers and marketers. Many studies have investigated consumer behaviour in the context of Facebook, and YouTube, but limited research studies in the context of Weibo, the most popular social networking site in China. Therefore, the main purpose of the present research is to investigate the deep motivations driving consumer creating and consuming textual and visual UGC on Weibo in China, to provide a better understanding of consumer behaviour on social networks and more knowledge for researchers and marketers about why consumer create and consume different UGC forms. This research utilized qualitative research methods: observation and 10 in-depth interviews, to explore why some consumers create textual UGC when they predominantly consume visual UGC. The findings suggest that interviewees consume visual UGC to "easily digest information that may not be easily understood in textual forms" and "quickly gain information that could not be shown in textual forms" in a relaxing and entertaining way, which is driven by a connected motivation of information-seeking and entertainment motivations. Interviewees create textual UGC to "relieve feeling" and "simultaneously protect privacy", which is driven by a connected motivation of self- expression and self-protection motivations. Moreover, self-presentation motivation drive interviewees to create visual UGC to "provide evidence of good experience and gain trust", to "show good self-image" and to "attract audience's attention and gain resonance", when there is large group of audience. They rarely post visual UGC on Weibo, because they think little audience follow them there.


We have shown previously that chick muscle cells transformed with Rous sarcoma virus are unable to form clusters of acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) (Anthony, D. T., S. M. Schuetze, and L. L. Rubin. 1984. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 81:2265-2269) and are missing a 37-KD tropomyosin- like protein (TM-2) (Anthony, D. T., R. J. Jacobs-Cohen, G. Marazzi, and L. L. Rubin. 1988. J. Cell Biol. 106:1713-1721). In an attempt to clarify the role of TM-2 in the formation and/or maintenance of AChR clusters, we have microinjected a monoclonal antibody specific for TM-2 (D3-16) into normal chick muscle cells in culture. D3-16 injection blocks the formation of new clusters but does not affect the preexisting ones. In addition, TM-2 is concentrated at rat neuromuscular junctions. These data suggest that TM-2 may play an important role in promoting the formation of AChR clusters.


Studies on the yeasts Candida oleophila, Candida utilis, Lipomyces starkeyi, Rhodosporidium toruloides and Saccharomyces cerevisiae revealed the existence of three different temperature adaptation responses involving changes in fatty acid composition. These conclusions were drawn by determining the growth rates, total cellular fatty acid content, fatty acid composition, degree of unsaturation, and the mean chain length of fatty acids over a range of growth temperatures. Within temperatures permitting growth, there were no changes in the major fatty acids of any of the yeasts, but the absolute amounts and relative compositions of the fatty acids did alter. In S. cerevisiae there were temperature-induced changes in the mean fatty acid chain length, whereas in R. toruloides there were changes in the degree of unsaturation. C. oleophila, C. utilis and L. starkeyi showed both responses, depending on whether the growth temperature was above or below 20-26 degrees C. Below 20-26 degrees C temperature-dependent changes were observed in the mean chain length whereas above 20-26 degrees C there were changes in the degree of unsaturation.


Abstract : Ray methods are employed in connection with scattering by discontinuities in waveguides is analyzed in the work reported here. Since the notion of a ray is generally associated with the local propagating plane wave fields encountered at high frequencies, it is to be expected that ray solutions apply only when the wavelength is small compared with critical dimensions of a guiding or scattering structure. However, it is shown that even the low frequency regime can be accommodated with good accuracy, thereby making the ray-optical techniques a powerful tool for the study of waveguide scattering problems. To render a ray-method analysis useful, it is necessary to convert these fields into a sum of waveguide modes whose amplitudes furnish the modal reflection, transmission and coupling coefficients. This conversion can be accomplished systematically in parallel plane and circular regions. Reflection from the open ends of parallel plane waveguide is analyzed in detail. In the unflanged case, the ray results agree remarkably well with the exact solutions even for wavelengths as long as six times the width of the guide. Data are also presented for flanged terminations for which no exact solution is available. (Author)


This two volume set relates the history of the most popular social dances, where they began, which dances survived the test of time and why, and what attracted American men and women to social dancing in these periods. Unlike other books on social dancing that taught people How to Dance, this books not only describes the dances, but also WHY Americans danced. This two volume companion set is the most comprehensive collection of American social dance from the first settlements in 1607 through the birth of the nation in 1776 and into the beginning of the 21st century. "Social Dancing in America" encompasses the global nature of the ethnic contributions to the formation of many unique American social dances. Those influences included the Native American Indian, Spanish, Caribbean, African, European, and other ethnic cultures that created original American social dances such as the Lindy Hop, Rock n' Roll, the Twist, Disco, Breakdancing, and Hip Hop. The book is also a celebration of the American spirit embodied among everyday individuals as they danced for fun, recreation, and family celebrations such as weddings. During the twentieth century, social dancing in itself offered a parallel of the social, economic, and cultural traditions of each particular time period. For example, segregation and the Jim Crow mentality was cemented in place all over the United States and for most of the century dancing and dancing halls were strictly segregated. Segregation forced a mass migration from the south to northern cities and with it a transformation of the Delta Blues music into an American original - Jazz. Jazz gave birth to the Charleston Dance, as well as evolving into swing music and the Lindy Hop. In the latter part of the 20th-century, with the technological advancement of television, shows such as American Bandstand, Soul Train, Dance Fever, and eventually the MTV generation greatly influenced dance styles and the current new trend in dancing such as Rock n' Roll, Freestyle, Disco, Breakdancing, and Hip Hop.


Intersectionality is a framework that analyzes how interlocking systems of power and oppression affect individuals along overlapping dimensions including race, gender, sexual orientation, class, and disability. Intersectionality theory therefore implies it is important that fairness in artificial intelligence systems be protected with regard to multi-dimensional protected attributes. However, the measurement of fairness becomes statistically challenging in the multi-dimensional setting due to data sparsity, which increases rapidly in the number of dimensions, and in the values per dimension. We present a Bayesian probabilistic modeling approach for the reliable, data-efficient estimation of fairness with multi-dimensional protected attributes, which we apply to two existing intersectional fairness metrics. Experimental results on census data and the COMPAS criminal justice recidivism dataset demonstrate the utility of our methodology, and show that Bayesian methods are valuable for the modeling and measurement of fairness in an intersectional context.


The sediment beneath and at various distances from the fish farm cages in Cephalonia bay (Eastern Mediterranean) was investigated seasonally through sediment profiling imagery (SPI) as well as through monitoring of geochemical variables and macrofaunal assemblages. The SPI images (SPI) repeatedly showed the same qualitative pattern along the benthic enrichment gradient with readily identifiable attributes such as depth of dark sediment, signs of outgassing and bioturbation marks. Quantitative comparisons showed that a large number of SPI attributes showed significant positive or negative correlation with geochemical and biological attributes describing the effect of fish farming on the seabed. All multivariate patterns obtained through the analysis of SPI attributes were highly correlated to those obtained from standard multivariate analysis of macrofauna during the respective seasons. It is argued that SPI provides an integrated assessment of the sedimentary conditions and therefore may be used as a complement of or even a substitute for standard sampling methods when mapping the effects of aquaculture on silty substrates.


In order to fully understand and analyze the rules and cognitive characteristics of users' learning methods and, with the assistance of Internet and artificial acquaintance technology, to emphasize the integrity and degree of personalized education, a personalized graph-learning-based recommendation system including user portraits is proposed. System raking of data layers, data analysis responses, and recommendations for sum beds are seamless and collaboratively combined. The data layer consists of user data and a design library containing scholarship materials, study materials, and price sets. The data analysis framework is captured by rest and energy data represented by basic information, learning behavior, etc. We can provide perceptual and visual learning audio feedback. And thus witness computing should convey users' learning behavior rules through similarity analysis and mob algorithm. We further use TF-IDF to sequentially mine users' resource priorities and always bind personalized learning suggestions. The system has been applied to an online education platform supported by artificial intelligence technique, which can provide instructors and students with personalized portraits. We also proposed to learn audio feedback and data consulting services, typically during the hard work phase of the assistant semester.


Abstract:  The Mid-Atlantic U.S. Coastal Plain (New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and northern Virginia) contains thick (> 500 m) mid-Cretaceous sand–sandstone reservoirs confined by thick clay–shale confining units and thus has high potential for storage of CO 2 captured from nearby point sources. The predictability of the continuity of the reservoir and confining units can be improved by applying principles of sequence stratigraphy, including integration of lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, paleoenvironmental proxies, and a novel application of fluvial aggradation cycles (FACs). We evaluate the storage and confinement potential for the Lower Cretaceous Waste Gate Formation and mid-Cretaceous Potomac Formation/Group in New Jersey and Maryland, which we divide into three major reservoirs (Waste Gate-Potomac Unit I, Potomac Unit II, and Potomac Unit III). We use new core data to ground-truth well-logs and paleoenvironmental changes, sequence stratigraphic stacking patterns (including FACs), and pollen biostratigraphy to update previous well-log correlations in New Jersey and extend these correlations into deep holes in Maryland. While individual sand beds are typically local in extent, zones of sands are broadly correlative over distances of 60 km. These regionally traceable sand-prone zones should be useful for carbon storage. Cenomanian Potomac Unit III sands are relatively thick (∼ 70 m) in New Jersey, but generally thin (average of ∼ 50 m) into Maryland; they are near the updip limit for supercritical storage (800 m) in New Jersey and Maryland and may not be suitable due to updip migration above the supercritical level. Potomac Unit II sands (Albian Pollen Zone II) appear to be discontinuous and less suitable in both states. Potomac Unit I (Aptian Pollen Zone I) and Waste Gate Formation sands (?early Aptian to Berriasian pre-Pollen Zone I) are relatively thick (∼ 88–223 m and ∼ 81–288 m, respectively) and confined in New Jersey and appear to be widespread and continuous; the updip confinement of this reservoir in Maryland is less certain. Volume storage estimates for the Potomac I-Waste Gate in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain are 8.4–33.5 Gt CO 2 , adequate to store CO 2 captured from 24–95 GW of natural gas generation for a century.


Abstract Background: Urinary tract infections (UTI) are among the most common bacterial diseases worldwide, with significant clinical and economic burden. Surveillance of pathogen epidemiology and risk factors for resistant pathogens in the hospital setting may improve the management of UTI. Objective: To evaluate microbiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of UTI pathogens, with associated costs, in hospitalized patients. Methods: Patients diagnosed with UTI between July and September 2013 were retrospectively screened for clinical symptoms and treatment within 24 hours of admission, then categorized into groups: community acquired (Group 1); recent healthcare exposure (Group 2); or a history of identification of an extended-spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL)-producing organism (Group 3). Clinical, epidemiological, and financial data were compared between groups. Results: From 308 included patients, a total of 216 pathogens were identified. Escherichia coli was most commonly identified pathogen, but frequencies differed between groups (p = 0.002), as did those of ESBL-producing pathogens (p < 0.001) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (p = 0.005). Appropriate empirical therapy also differed between groups (p = 0.003). Length of stay was longer for healthcare associated UTI with inappropriate empirical therapy (5.2 versus 6.3 days, p = 0.016). Increased cost was associated with factors other than antimicrobial costs. Intensive care unit (ICU) stay (p < 0.001), care facility at discharge (p = 0.001), Foley catheter (FC) present on admission (p = 0.002), and Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) (p = 0.017) predicted increased cost overall, while ICU stay (p < 0.001), time to appropriate therapy (p < 0.001), and CCI (p = 0.015) predicted higher cost in patients with pathogens identified. Conclusions: Changes in antimicrobial susceptibility are evident with exposure to healthcare, the presence of a FC, and a history of resistant pathogens. Risk-based empirical prescribing and rapid de-escalation may improve care and reduce costs.


Biomedical electrodes have potential application in a range of different treatments including deep brain stimulation, cochlear implants and spinal chord injury. Conducting polymers may have advantages over existing ceramic and electrode materials in terms of charge density, flexibility and biocompatibility. Furthermore, with the advent of optogenetics, combined optical and electrical stimulation and recording would benefit from transparent electrical materials. Here we present initial results for vapour-phase polymerized poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), a water-insoluble transparent conducting polymer. We demonstrate biocompatibility and stability.